The present invention is in the field of poultry processing and is more particularly directed to a new and unique leg tie-down means and apparatus for affixing same to a dressed fowl.
It is desirable that a dressed fowl such as a turkey or the like have the ends of its legs tucked into the body cavity so as to save space and present a uniform appearance.
The positioning of the fowl legs in the abdominal cavity was initially achieved by manual manipulations which are time-consuming and labor expensive and which do not always provide a satisfactory result in that the legs frequently will not be retained in their desired position. A number of mechanical contrivances have been proposed for alleviating the foregoing problem with one of the most popular of such contrivances being a wire member for clamping the leg ends together. Unfortunately, such devices are difficult to attach and also difficult to remove to the consequent inconvenience and added cost to the user.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved poultry leg tie-down means for positioning the leg ends within the body cavity and securely maintaining same therein.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved apparatus for automatically attaching leg tie-down and restraining means to a dressed fowl.